China took credit on Friday for its “humanity” in allowing blind legal activist Chen Guangcheng to study in the United States, after he fled to the US embassy in Beijing following months of house arrest.

Chen, one of China’s most prominent human rights advocates, slipped away from under the noses of guards and eyes and ears of surveillance equipment around his home village in late April last year.

He sought refuge at the US embassy in Beijing for six days, embarrassing China and creating an awkward backdrop for US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit at the same time.

Following intense negotiations between Chinese and US officials, Chen left the embassy and was allowed to apply for a visa to study abroad, ending up at New York University’s School of Law.

“For one thing, the NYU campus established in Shanghai has no majors for blind people, so it’s not possible for them to teach him,” he said. “As a result, he of his own accord chose to go to the United States to study.

“This should illustrate that the Chinese government has shown itself to be humane and satisfied his desire to study abroad in the US,” he added.

Chen and NYU had a falling out in June when Chen publicly accused the university of asking him to leave under pressure from China, a claim that NYU vigorously denied.

Chen’s claim sparked a debate about academic freedom for US institutions, which are forming partnerships with Chinese universities in greater numbers.

Liberal professor Xia Yeliang was fired from the elite Peking University last month, a decision he and his supporters attribute to his advocacy for democracy and rule of law in the classroom and online.

More than 130 faculty members of Wellesley College in Massachusetts wrote an open letter to Peking University in September saying they would lobby for the cancellation of a student exchange programme between the two universities if Xia was fired for political reasons.

" the Chinese government has shown itself to be humane"
---well, let's go to the tape, shall we? First, the guy was jailed under very questionable circumstances. Then after he served his sentence, he and his family were subjected to illegal extra-judiciary detention to which the central government turned a blind eye. Then he managed an escape of 007 proportions that resulted in substantial political embarrassment for the CCP. And then, and only then, did the CCP act in a "humane" way. So good job, CCP. Better late than never, as they say, even if it was pretty darn late.

webtruder@****** Nov 16th 20135:30am

It really is foolish to assume that all humans have a sense of shame one way or another.This one borders on sociopathic behaviour.This gives me the creeps.